Affliction

Longtime veteran and mixed martial arts pioneer Gary “Big Daddy” Goodridge has been cleared by the California State Athletic Comission as a replacement opponent for former UFC heavyweight title challenger Paul Buentello at tomorrow night’s Affliction: Banned show in Anaheim.

Greg Savage of Sherdog.com was able to confirm Goodridge’s participation with CSAC Executive Officer Armando Garcia. The part-time K-1 kickboxer was in-shape and in California for an event in San Diego that ended up being cancelled. His bout against Buentello is not yet official however. Both fighters are required to weigh-in at 2 PM ET tomorrow.

Goodridge is currently riding a two-fight losing streak, most recently dropping a lackluster unanimous decision to Terroll Dees at an Iroquois MMA Championships event in June. His last victory was a TKO win over Jan Nortje at K-1 Hero’s 8 in March of last year.

Buentello’s original foe, Aleksander Emelianenko, was forced off the card earlier this evening after failing to receive medical clearance and meet licensing requirements. It’s also been confirmed that although Justin Levens and Ray Lizama are indeed slated to compete at a catch-weight of 187 lbs, Levens failed to make weight (he came in at 189 lbs) and will be docked part of his purse.

The official-weigh in results for tomorrow night’s Affliction: Banned event, which takes place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, are below. All fighters successfully made weight with the exception of Justin Levens, who weighed-in four pounds over the middleweight limit. However it’s unknown whether or not his bout against Ray Lazama is being fought a catch-weight or not.

In more unfortunate news, the scheduled bout between PRIDE veteran Aleksander Emelianenko and one-time UFC heavyweight title challenger Paul Buentello has been scrapped. According to the California State Athletic Commission, Emelianenko failed to meet the necessary licensing requirements. A replacement opponent for Buentello will not be able to be found in time.

Tickets still remain on sale for the event. The pay-per-view portion of the card will begin at 10 PM ET and FOX Sports Net will be airing three preliminary bouts tomorrow night as well. The promotion intends to televise as many fights as possible, including those prelims that will not be featured on FSN, which will act as swing bouts for the PPV.

Here’s the final pre-fight press conference for tomorrow night’s Affliction: Banned event, which will take place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Tickets still remain on sale for the event. The pay-per-view portion of the card will begin at 10 PM ET and FOX Sports Net will be airing three preliminary bouts tomorrow night as well. The press conference video comes in four parts. The first part is above and the other three are after the jump.

Those interested in seeing the rest of the preliminary fights featured on this weekend’s Affliction: Banned undercard will now have the opportunity to see those bouts live on television.

Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio informed our friends at MMA Junkie yesterday that the promotion’s debut broadcast on pay-per-view will run for a surprising four hours, allowing for the inclusion of eight bouts on the main card. Additionally, FOX Sports Net will now be airing three bouts instead of the originally-planned two.

“Every fight except the three that are going to be on FSN will be on pay-per-view,” Atencio said in the report.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski discusses his upcoming bout against one-time IFL standout and Miletich Fighting Systems product Ben Rothwell at Affliction Entertainment’s upcoming “Banned” event this Saturday night in Anaheim, California in the above video courtesy of MMARated.com. Arlovski also touches on life after the UFC and whether or not he intends on entering the world of professional boxing.

However the highlight of the interview has to be Arlovski’s response after being asked about a possible relationship between rival Tim Sylvia and Arlovski’s ex-girlfriend Patrycja Mikula. (It’s the last question of the interview and the answer is hysterical. Arlovski 1, Sylvia 0)

Affliction Entertainment has put out a series of videos previewing their debut “Banned” show, which will take place this Saturday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The half-hour segment, which is hosted by longtime popular referee “Big” John McCarthy, focuses around the main event which features heavyweight phenom Fedor Emelianenko, who will be taking on former UFC champion Tim Sylvia for the WAMMA heavyweight title.

A Jay Glazer interview with Emelinanenko is featured as well as a profile on Sylvia that includes remarks from his longtime trainer Pat Miletich as well as Sylvia himself. The first part is above. The rest of the “Countdown” special is after the jump.

The commission also fined White $2,000 and changed his victory over Anthony Brown at the show to a no-contest. Although White originally stated that he was unaware the diuretic was banned in the state of Nevada, he admitted making a mistake during today’s hearing according to MMA Weekly.

Because of his incoming suspension, White was forced to withdraw from his scheduled bout against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira last week. Nogueira will now take on Edwin Dewees in a light heavyweight preliminary bout that will not be aired during the one-hour pre-event special on FOX Sports Net. (The network has chosen to air Vitor Belfort’s middleweight debut against Terry Martin instead)

White, an original member of Ken Shamrock’s Lion’s Den, has been struggling recently - he’s lost five out of his last seven bouts. White’s most recent fight was a disqualification victory over Jeremiah Constant at a Xtreme Cage Combat show in April.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia discusses his upcoming mega-fight against former PRIDE heavyweight title holder and perennial pound-for-pound king Fedor Emelianenko at Affliction Clothing’s upcoming “Banned” show this Saturday night in the above video. Sylvia also talks about his intentions of proving doubters wrong and securing his place as one of the best fighters in the world.

Edwin Dewees throws a left hook at Jorge Rivera at The Ultimate Fighter 4 Finale. Photo property of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Longtime veteran Edwin Dewees has signed a multi-fight deal with Affliction Clothing and will make his promotional debut at the organization’s upcoming “Banned” show on July 19th at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, replacing Vernon “Tiger” White against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

Affliction vice president Tom Atencio and Dewees made the announcement on a conference call with the media yesterday afternoon.

“We definitely had our sites set on Dewees and I am very happy to announce that he has signed a multi-fight deal with us,” Atencio said in a press release today. “Dewees was our first choice as a replacement for (Vernon) White. He is a great addition to our All-World caliber card.”

Dewees recently snapped a career-worst four-fight losing streak, submitting Richard Blake at a NoLimits Fighting event back in April. The former “Ultimate Fighter” cast member has fought primarily in his home state of Arizona, where he currently trains at an extension of Ken Shamrock’s Lions Den.

His opponent, Nogueira, has split his last four bouts, most recently earning a second-round TKO of Todd Gouwenberg at Hardcore Championship Fighting’s “Destiny” event in February. He was last in the spotlight courtesy of Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou last year, becoming the first victim of two epic knockout upsets by the Team Quest product in 2007.

White was forced to be taken off the card after tested positive for a banned diuretic following a recent Xtreme Fighting Association kickboxing event in Las Vegas. The Nevada State Athletic Commission has yet to comment on White’s positive test. Although the White-Nogueira bout was originally slated to be aired as part of a one-hour pre-event special on FOX Sports Net, the network has chosen to air Vitor Belfort’s middleweight debut against Terry Martin instead.

Tim Sylvia’s July 19th bout against Fedor Emelianenko, arguably the best heavyweight in the world, is fast approaching. The question of whether Sylvia has a legit shot of beating Fedor is a valid one. He provides some candid answers about his training for this fight and where he’s at mentally in this interview with David Andrest at mmajunkie.com:

MMAjunkie.com: We’re about two weeks away from your fight with Fedor Emelianenko. How is your back feeling? Will it be a concern going into this fight?

Tim Sylvia: I feel great. No problems at all. My back surgery was a while ago, and I no longer have problems with my back. Honestly, it feels so good that I don’t even think about it anymore.

MMAjunkie.com: Going into this fight, did you have to change your training much? Are there things you are doing differently as you ready for this bout?

Tim Sylvia: Well, sure there are some things you do differently as you get ready for specific opponents, but I’m sure you understand if I don’t go into details at this time. <laughs>